In California, a Living Trust avoids probate for virtually any asset you own — real estate, bank accounts, vehicles, and so on. You need to create a trust document (similar to a will), naming someone to take over as Trustee after your death (called a Successor Trustee). Then—and this is crucial—you must transfer ownership of your property to yourself as the Trustee of the trust. Once that's complete, the property will be controlled by the terms of the trust. At your death, your Successor Trustee will be able to transfer it to the trust beneficiaries without probate court proceedings.
The Law Office of Olga Nazimova can assist you in the preparation of your living trust and other pertinent and necessary documents so that your assets are transferred to your beneficiaries upon your death without the need to file any probate actions.
Probate court proceedings (during which a deceased person's assets are transferred to the people who inherit them) can be long, costly, and confusing.
If you die without creating trust and/or placing your assets into the trust your assets will be distributed to family members according to the laws of intestate succession. If you don’t leave behind a spouse or children, state laws, in general, leave your assets to other family members in this order:
Your grandchildren
Your parents
Your siblings; if deceased, to nieces and nephews
Your grandparents; if deceased, to aunts and uncles
Probate costs are quite high and can only be avoided if all assets have been placed into a living trust. Probate costs can typically break into two distinct parts. They are as follows:
Statutory Probate Fees (basic fees)
Filing fees: $435 for each petition you have to file.
Normally only 2:
Petition to probate
Petition for Final Distribution
Publication fee: $100 — 200
Certified Copies: $100
Misc.: $100
Appraisal fees - Typically 0.1% of the value of the appraised asset
And in California, the executor is paid executor fees in a sum equal to the statutory attorney fees unless the executor elects to waive these fees.
Probate Code § 10810 (a) for ordinary services the attorney for the personal representative shall receive compensation based on the value of the Estate accounted for by the personal representative as follows:
Four percent on the first one hundred thousand dollars ($100,000)
Three percent on the next one hundred thousand dollars ($100,000)
Two percent on the next eight hundred thousand dollars ($800,000)
One percent on the next nine million dollars ($9,000,000)
One-half of one percent on the next fifteen million dollars ($15,000,000)
Probate Code § 10811 (a) states that: In addition to the compensation provided by Section 10810, the Court may allow additional compensation for extraordinary services by the attorney for the personal representative in an amount the court determines is just and reasonable.
Probate Code § 10813: Normally in the state of California, it can take between 12 months to 2+ years depending on the circumstance to conclude a probate action.